Killer's Prey. Rachel Lee
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Revisit Conard County for heart-stopping suspense from New York Times bestselling author Rachel Lee
After escaping an attacker who wanted her dead, Nora Loftis is forced to return to Conard County. She needs to heal; she just didn’t expect to do it on Jake Madison’s Wyoming ranch. The full-time cowboy and part-time police chief was her first love, her only love. And now, with her attacker on the loose, he’s her only hope of survival.
Like a vigilant sentry, Jake vows to protect her. Like a tender lover, his arms provide a haven, his kisses a promise. But Nora is a psychologist, and she knows the mind of her attacker. She knows he’s coming for her…to finish what he started.
“You’re scared, aren’t you?”
Nora nodded. “Sometimes it swamps me.”
Jake held her, as if his arms were a defense against the terrifying world beyond them. If only.
“I wish I could promise that he’ll be caught. That you’ll be safe forever.”
But he couldn’t. She was still trapped in the web, and she could still feel it vibrating with threat. She knew her attacker was getting closer.
Jake touched his lips to hers.
Instantly all concern flew from her head. That a kiss could have the power to fill her with heat, to expand the need deep inside her into an aching pool of fire, amazed her.
“You’re not alone,” he said. “And as long as I breathe you won’t be until this is over for good.”
She wasn’t sure how he could keep that vow, but for one moment she almost believed it.
Conard County: The Next Generation
Dear Reader,
Writing Killer’s Prey proved a very difficult emotional journey for me. While I’m grateful to say I’ve never been stalked by a killer, I have experienced many of the abusive kinds of experiences Nora endured. I reached into some painful places to bring her to life. It was, in many ways, a cathartic journey for me and a great reminder of how wonderful my life has grown as the years have passed.
But her fears, her tendency to revert, are what I knew from my own experience. Watching her grow and blossom in this book was like watching a birthing. She took the reins from me early in the story and told it in her own way. It may have started with things I’ve known, but this is definitely Nora’s story.
It’s also Jake’s. Young people often act in ways they can’t explain and have trouble understanding even in hindsight. Those are the things that often keep us from sleeping at night as we recall them and wish we had never done them. Jake’s own struggle to figure himself out held me transfixed.
But with time comes understanding. If we’re lucky, with time also comes self-forgiveness.
And if we’re really lucky, we find the perfect love.
I hope all of you are as lucky as Jake and Nora become.
Hugs,
Rachel
Killer’s Prey
Rachel Lee
RACHEL LEE
was hooked on writing by the age of twelve and practiced her craft as she moved from place to place all over the United States. This New York Times bestselling author now resides in Florida and has the joy of writing full-time.
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To all the Ugly Ducklings: I know there is a swan inside you.
Contents
Prologue
Cranston Langdon sat in the chair in his den, pant leg pulled up so he could study the tracking bracelet that had been attached to him when he’d been released on bail. Just the sight of it made him furious. He was an upstanding member of this community, a business owner. They should have released him without this damn bracelet.
Hell, he wasn’t even being charged with murder. Rape, yes. Aggravated assault, yes. But guys who’d done a lot more than take a knife to a woman had been allowed to walk out of court on bail alone.
But not him. He blamed his soon-to-be ex-wife for that. She’d gone into that hearing and claimed he was a violent man, that the whole reason their child was receiving counseling from Nora Loftis was because of his violence. She had even said she was afraid of him.
He would never forgive her for that. Just as he would never forgive Nora Loftis for surviving. He’d dragged her to a ditch in the woods and she should have rotted away before anyone found her body.
Instead, she had managed to climb out of that ditch hours later and flag down help. So now here he was.
He knew he could cut that bracelet.